He wanted to make sure that the kids in that neighborhood got the education that they deserved to get.

He still goes down to Amity Heights and walks around.

“They put the black fence around it. It looks like a fortress. It has a black gate with points out the top of it.

“When we were there, it had posts with yellow string across it.”

The drug culture swept through there in 1984.

Whoa!

How many remember that?

How many of us remember the drug culture swept through there in 1984?

Is that in the police records?

The newspapers of the day?

That’s when the beatings started in the parking lot.

That’s when people from the other side of town started shopping at Amity Heights.

Just a pick-up, of course.

“It was still a safe place to play, even though things happened.

“We have good kids. We have role models, but we’re looking for more.”

The cell phone vibrates again.

A student looking for a ride to Washington for “America Has Talent.”

Pops would take him, but he has a prior commitment.

It will be, instead, a bus or train ride.

Sherman Denby has an unbelievable network.

One phone call — one — and he has what he needs. If they know it’s to help a kid, it’s done.

He doesn’t put it on blast.

“I do it because of what somebody did for me. Bob Spence is another person who looked out for me. He didn’t have to. He did some things for me and I will never forget that.

“Because he did that, I make sure I do it for somebody else.”

The same with Miss Annie (Wright).

“Every day she taught was a thank you day at Cherry Street School and I love her for that. She made sure I was doing the right thing.

“She’s my shining star.

“Mr. Rainear is my shining star.

“And Miss Bentley. When I was in the seventh grade and we were selling candy and my candy got eaten up, I couldn’t pay for it.

“And she paid for it. She didn’t have to do that.

“My way of thanking her is to make sure I show the way for somebody else.

“If a kid needs a coat, you buy the coat and shut up.

Does everybody in Cherry Street School have a coat?

“No. But they will have.”

He works with a group of teachers now that when something is going on with a family and we say, ‘Something has to be done,’ it’s done.

“If a kid comes to school and her hair is all messed up, we have a teacher who is a hairdresser and she takes care of it.

“We have teachers who play parents because they care.”

Some don’t leave school until 8 p.m.

They live it.

“I don’t work on a contract. The contract says I’m done at 3:15. I don’t worry about a contract.”

God’s batting average is pretty good.

It’s a total network no one could afford to pay.

Are we making it?

Are we gaining ground?

“It’s almost like a tug o’ war,” he admits. “You hope they make the right choices. You gain ground and then somebody gets shot. When something happens, you wonder what you could have done more. But, you go on from there. It’s already been done. Where do we go from there?”

Government is not the answer.

The police department is not the answer.

“You just have to teach them the right way.

“No matter where you live and what the circumstances are, if you pour the right choices into that kid, he has the same chance of making the right choices as anybody else.”

Of all the kids he grew up with in the ‘hood, two have master’s degrees. He’s one of them.

“Welfare can cripple you if you depend on it too long. It should be a stepping some to get you through a season of your life. If you don’t advance yourself while using it, you’re only going to qualify for a minimum-wage job, which might not support your family.”

His family stood by him.

“My dad was my best friend.”

On her deathbed, his grandmother told him he knew what he needed to do.

Get back to the church, and he has.

He took care of his dad before he died in 2009, and it was hard.

“But my students pulled me through it.

“When dad went to the hospital, the nurse said it me, ‘Mr. Denby! Is that your dad? You took care of my son. Don’t worry about a thing. You go ahead, I’ll call you.’

“When dad went to the hospital a second time, that nurse, I was currently teaching her son. She said, ‘You go ahead and I’ll call if anything happens.’

“When dad finally went to a nursing home, one of my former students told me, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Denby. I’ll take care of him.’

Sherman Denby knows everybody!

His energy is boundless.

He turns away from the naysayers.

“The person who says can’t be done is often interrupting the person who is doing it.

“One piece at a time, we’ll get the puzzle put together.”

On kids reading below level.

“You have to take the elevator down to their floor.”

Meaning, if they read at a third-grade level, you give them a third-grade book, even if they’re in high school.

You don’t push them out.

Pops is tied into Karen Barnett’s Bridgeton Municipal Alliance Youth to Youth program, which is sponsored by the Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

Without that council, the program wouldn’t happen.

“It’s working marvelously.

“We run it year around and I believe in the expectations she sets — proper behavior, proper speech, proper etiquette.”

He supports her whole-heartedly.

“My classroom is open.

“Kids from high school will come in with homework or just to sit down and talk.”

Not everybody has somebody to talk to.

“We need more volunteers, but we need people who are committed for the right reasons.

“Everybody has something they can offer.

A lot of these kids have never had experiences we have had.

“I’ll go down to the fish creek and somebody will see me.

“Somebody else sees my car.”

Much texting later, there are 15 or 20 kids around who have never fished before.

“They catch a fish.”

“‘Now what?’

“Take it off the hook.

“‘How do you take it off the hook?’”

Some have never flown a kite.

Some have never roller-skated.

When the phone rings, he answers it.

“You have to. You might be the last person that child had a chance to call. You don’t hesitate even if it’s 3 o’clock in the morning. You just go.”

He’s been to Cooper University Hospital a few times.

“Because it’s not just the kids at Cherry Street. I keep track of every kid I’ve ever had.”

Where they are. Who they’re hanging out with. Are you in college? If you are, I’ll send you a care package.

“I know what I’ve poured in. I want to know what’s come out.

They all have his phone number.

His cell phone vibrates.

“Yo, Pops,” the text message starts out.

It’s one of his kids.

He’s 18. Pops has been with him every step of the way since he was 13.

“Somebody asked me if I wanted to go skiing. Skiing? I never tried it. So I went. Now I belong to the ski club at the high school and I go skiing all the time.”

Now he got kids asking him to take them skiing.

We took kids to the beach.

“Take them to a play, take them to a musical.

“How can you learn to appreciate it if you never do it?”

The kids helped paint the mural downtown.

“They go by it and they say, ‘I did that!’”

How can we help, Sherman Denby?

“Take a chance on a child.”

—

Researchers at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Institute for Advanced Study have found a way to counteract a mutation they say is one of the "common denominators" for virtually all cancer, and which could eventually treat thousands of patients each year with a wide spectrum of tumors, according to a paper published Monday.

— nj.com/starledger

—

In a move that will affect 3,000 bus riders, NJ Transit will curtail or end service on 11 bus lines that have low ridership or are redundant.

Fewer than 100 riders will have no alternate service.

The reorganization will save NJ Transit $3 million, and $1 million will be reinvested into new projects, including the expansion of bus service from Perth Amboy to Newark Liberty International Airport.

— nj.com/starledger

—

Two counties would begin mandating drug rehab for nonviolent offenders under a bill cleared by an Assembly committee Monday, an off-shoot of an initiative that Gov. Chris Christie proposed in his State of the State address.

Christie wants to roll out mandatory drug court statewide, but the legislature wants a pilot program only to start.

—

Do it here!

Do it here!

—

You have your favorite hospital.

We have ours.

We worship Jefferson.

But there are so many good ones to choose from.

We are so lucky in the Delaware Valley.

And that includes Chet’s place.

—

BRUCE WILLSON

Welcome Bruce Willson and Cyndy Wilks to Family Fun Day on Saturday in Bridgeton.

One runs the Sunset Triathlon and the other is the athletic director at BHS and heckuva athlete in her day.

They will be directing the games behind West Avenue School.

—

No basketball tournament, Mayor Kelly?

—

Let’s hold the next freeholder meeting at the seniors meal at the Bridgerton Sports Hall of Fame.

Let’s taste this food and rate it.

You like to eat, Tony Surace.

And your hair is gray enough to get in the door.

And you’re paying for this food.

—

MY KIND OF TOWN: Where you can be the city and county watchdog, as long as you don’t paint with a broad brush.